God

A man had a pet snake and he purchased a mouse to use as food for it. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake’s glass cage where the snake was sleeping on a bed of sawdust. This tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands, he was in great danger of being swallowed alive. The mouse had to come up with a brilliant plan. What could he do?

He quickly set about covering up the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried. The mouse couldn’t see the snake anymore and he sat back thinking that he had solved the problem. However, we all know the mouse’s problem was not solved. Eventually the snake would wake up and that would be the end of the mouse. The solution to the mouse’s problem came from outside the cage. The man took pity on the poor mouse reached in and removed him from the snake’s cage.

People can be like that mouse, trying ever so hard to cover up the wrong things in their lives. Trying to do good things so that others and even God will not see the sin in their lives. Yet when you try to cover over your sin with your own good actions, it really isn’t gone. Just like that snake, sin will eventually get you. Only by the grace of God can you be saved from the deadly peril of sin in your life.

Grace is undeserved favor, it is mercy that we don’t expect or deserve. Grace is the hand of God reaching down, removing you from deadly danger and bringing you into a relationship with God. Grace is God’s gift to you. NIV Eph. 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– Every person needs God’s grace, because every person has the deadly serpent of sin in their lives. Not one person is exempt. Grace is God’s gift to us. Grace is for every person. Grace restores us to our relationship with God. Grace is needed to keep us daily walking with God. I’ve called today’s message “Growing In God’s Grace” to answer the question, “How can we continually live in God’s grace?”

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 13, 2005 message entitled Growing In God’s Grace

Erik Weihenmayer is blind, yet on May 25, 2001, he reached the peak of Mt. Everest. Erik suffered from a degenerative eye disease, he lost his sight when he was 13, but that didn’t stop him. Ninety percent of climbers never make it to the top of Mt Everest, 165 have died trying since 1953, yet Erik succeeded. One of the main reasons Erik made it is that he listened well. He listened to the little bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him, so he would know what direction to go. He listened to the voice of teammates who would shout back to him, “Death fall two feet to your right!” so he would know what direction not to go. He listened to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he would know whether the ice was safe to cross. When we take a perilous journey, listening well can make all the difference.

Life is a perilous journey. You and I need to listen well and we need to listen to the right source. We need to listen well to the guidance of God through the Bible to make it to our destination. Today we’re going to talk about “Following God’s Guidance.” How can a book written by men dead for at least 2000 years be relevant to your life in the year 2006? How can stories of an ancient middle eastern nation of long ago have any usefulness in your modern life today? We deal with issues like: Should I try to change jobs or not? How should I handle my finances? Should I go back to school for more training? How can I raise my children to avoid the problems of today’s decadent culture? The list could go on and on.

The Bible doesn’t deal with the issues I have to make daily decisions about, or does it? How can the Bible actually help me make decisions in life? How can God’s Word provide guidance for my life? NLT 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. God can guide us through His Word, because: (1) God is the same today as He was when the Bible was written, He hasn’t changed; (2) Sin is the same today as when the Bible was written, it hasn’t changed; (3) Man is the same today as when the Bible was written, people haven’t changed; and (4) Basic issues of life we face today are the same fundamental issues people have always faced. So today I want to answer the question “How can God guide our lives?”

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 6, 2005 message entitled Following God’s Guidance

Today we start a new message series called “Growing In God.” Our spiritual lives are often likened to plants in the Bible. A plant needs certain essential ingredients to grow. It needs good soil, the proper nutrients, water and sun. So too, a believer or a person seeking to know more about God needs certain essential elements to grow spiritually in God. In this series, we’ll be focusing on some of these essential things that we need to understand and apply in our lives so that we can live the kind of lives God created us to live.

One of the essential things that we need in our lives is the proper guidance so that we can make good decisions. Proper guidance in necessary in many aspects of life. On April 13, 1970, the flight of Apollo 13 was bound for the moon. However, without warning, there was an onboard explosion in an oxygen tank which crippled the spacecraft. The return trajectory was altered and now the spacecraft would miss the earth. The astronauts would be doomed unless something could be done. Commander Jim Lovell could not rely on the computers to help because there wasn’t enough battery power. So he had to visually keep planet earth in the crosshairs of the spacecraft window as he corrected the trajectory with a manual burn of the engine. The procedure worked and the astronauts returned home safely. All because Lovell kept his eye on the fixed reference point of planet earth.

Our journey through life must also be lived by keeping our eye on a fixed reference point. There is only one fixed reference point and that is God’s Word the Bible. TEV Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my path. When we keep our eyes on God’s Word, we will be guided by it in our journey through life. We will reach our destination of fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives here and in eternity with God in heaven. If you choose any other reference point, you will go off course with your life, you will be off target with God and you will be headed for destruction.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 30, 2005 message entitled Enjoying God’s Word

A little boy came to his father and asked him, “Dad, where is heaven?” His father, engrossed in the evening paper, responded, “Beats me, son.” The boy thought a minute and asked another question, “Dad, why is the earth round?” The Dad answered, “I don’t know.” His son played few more minutes, then asked, “Dad, is there life on other planets?” His father patiently answered, “Nobody knows the answer to that.” Finally, the boy asked his father, “Dad, do you mind me asking you all these questions?” His father put down his paper, looked at his son and said, “Why not at all son, how else are you going to learn?”

Not exactly the perfect father-son relationship, but questions are important for children and for us. Children have questions for their parents, we have questions for God. Sometimes, we think that everybody else has it all together, except us. We have questions, but we’re afraid to ask. The truth of the matter is that we’re all far less than perfect. And to understand that is good. Only people who realize that they’re imperfect can change for the better with God’s help. Only imperfect people ask questions of God and get answers. God wants us to ask questions, as a little child. Unless we ask like a child, we won’t learn, we won’t receive from God. NIV James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

God wants us to ask questions. We will miss God’s best if we don’t ask questions. So we want to ask the right questions of God and we want to hear God’s answer Today, we begin a new message series entitled “Jesus Is The Answer.” If you want to learn, if you are seriously asking God honest questions, this series can change your life. The Gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are full of questions (616 to be exact). Jesus loved to ask people questions. People loved to ask Jesus questions. Many times Jesus did not directly answer a question, but he answered a deeper, unspoken question. The same will be true for us. Sometimes we ask the wrong question, that’s OK. God will give us the answer we really need, not always the answer we may want.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my July 24, 2005 message entitled Questions For God

As adults we often laugh at our children’s fears. That noise at night that scares them is simply the creaking of the boards in the house. The monster on the wall is simply a shadow from the clothes hanging on a chair. Yet there are things that we are afraid of as adults, things that are not so simple to explain away.

Fear comes when we perceive danger, real or imagined. Worry is simply a form of fear, fear of some danger harming us in the future. Now, the vast majority of the things that we fear, that we worry about, will never come to pass, they are simply mirages. However, there are real dangers in the world, there are things, there are people, there are situations that can cause real harm to us. Should we just dismiss them? If we try to ignore them will that make the danger go away? No, the Bible never tells us to ignore reality, but it does tell us to not be afraid. NLT Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation– so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger– so why should I tremble?

The reason that a believer does not need to fear, the reason that a believer does not need to worry, is not because there is no danger in the world. The reason we should not fear is that the Lord is our protection. However, God’s protection of the believer is not automatic. We need God’s protection, you don’t know when or where you or your family will face danger. My wife’s parents were on a trip in England when the terrorists bombs went off last week, but they were not injured. They were protected. NLT Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe.

Do you want to be protected from harm? Do you want to be secure in a strong fortress? Do you want to be safe and unafraid in this world of danger? Protection is found in God alone. You can be surrounded by body guards and not be safe. The only truly safe people in the world are those who are godly, those who are following God’s purpose for their lives. Nothing can deter them from fulfilling God’s mission for their lives as they release God’s power of protection.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my July 17, 2005 message entitled Releasing God’s Power Of Protection

We’ve all been hurt in our lives by other people,may have been by our parents, by friends, by relatives, by employers or by our spouse. Often-times the deepest hurts are by those we are closest too. The ones we really want to love us the most sometimes hurt us the worst. How do you handle it when someone hurts you? Do you get angry, look to get revenge, give the silent treatment, hold a grudge, become bitter or make a vow to never forget? NLT 1 Corinthians 13:5b Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.

One guy said to a friend, “Whenever my wife and I get into an argument, she gets historical.” His friend said, “you mean hysterical,” “No,” he said, “historical, she tells me everything I’ve ever done wrong.” But God doesn’t want us to keep historical records of the wrongs done against us. When we hold grudges, when we focus on our hurts and the people who have hurt us, we come into bondage to those things. We become unloving, bitter people. We become just like those who have hurt us. Whatever we focus our minds and attentions upon, we become like.

We’re all going to get hurt by people, we don’t have a choice in that. Our choice is how to respond to those who hurt us. Forgiveness opens the door to living in freedom. Our forgiveness of others releases God’s forgiveness toward us. In our current message series, we’re looking at the prayer that Jesus gave us as a model prayer, the Lord’s prayer. NLT Matthew 6:12 and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Our relationship with God is dependent on our relationship with other people. Whether we forgive others or not determines our relationship with God.

Many people don’t understand the principle Jesus is teaching here. They live their lives in bondage, wondering why there is no joy in life, wondering why their prayers are not answered, wondering why God seems so far away. The key is to forgive those who have hurt and sinned against us, even if it is very difficult to do. Forgiveness is difficult, but with God’s help you can do it. You can release God’s power of forgiveness as you put into practice three keys to living in freedom.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my July 3, 2005 message entitled Releasing God’s Power Of Forgiveness